Professional athletes probably shouldn’t get in the habit of responding to hecklers. That might seem unfair, but the response usually doesn’t go over very well.
That seems to be the predicament Carmelo Anthony finds himself in after snapping back at a loud-mouthed fan Tuesday night. The New York Knicks swingman heard enough from one boisterous fan, so he offered a simple suggestion.
“Look, the owner’s right there,” Anthony told reporters he told the fan, per ESPN.com. “Ask for your money back.”
Ouch.
“He kept calling my name, calling my name, saying, ‘You guys suck, you guys suck,’ ” Anthony told reporters after yet another blowout loss, this one to the Portland Trail Blazers. “At that point, I was trying to gather myself, and I turned around. All I did was point at (James) Dolan and told him, ‘Look, the owner’s right there. Ask for your money back.’ He’s calling me and telling me he’s never coming to another game and we suck. Just don’t want to hear that. I pointed to the owner and told him, ‘You deal with that with him. Maybe you can get your money back.’ ”
The case could be made the heckler wasn’t even the worst thing that happened to Anthony on Tuesday night. Anthony was rejected by the rim on a meaningless dunk attempt after a whistle.
Anthony and the Knicks are in the midst of another disappointing season, which only has grown worse. New York is 5-17 over its last 22 games, a stretch in which the Knicks fired coach Derek Fisher. His replacement, Kurt Rambis, hasn’t fared much better, posting a 2-6 record, with the two most recent losses coming by a combined 36 points.
Maybe a trade doesn’t seem so bad, after all.
Thumbnail photo via Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports Images
